Labor union hero Cesar Chavez, who is celebrated annually with a California state holiday on March 31, is now the subject of troubling historic allegations of abuse of young women and girls, according to the union he co-founded.

The United Farm Workers union announced Tuesday that it was cancelling its Cesar Chavez Day celebrations this year in light of new allegations about Chavez the man, the source of which is not clear. As KRON4 reports, the union put out a statement saying that some "deeply troubling allegations" have surfaced, and these have been confirmed as well by the Cesar Chavez Foundation.

The foundation said that the allegations stem from incidents that occurred "during his time as President of the United Farm Workers of America."

The union said in its statement that Chavez allegedly "behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values," and while "some of the reports are family issues," there are more and significant allegations being made.

"Far more troubling are allegations involving abuse of young women or minors," the United Farm Workers said. "Allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing."

Per the LA Times, details of the allegations have not been made public, but the union's acknowledgement comes after several weeks in which Cesar Chavez Day events were being mysteriously canceled around the country. These included planned celebrations in Tucson, Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and San Bernardino.

The union's statement added that canceling the March 31 events would "provide space for people who may have been victimized to find support and to share their stories if that is what they choose."

These latest allegations against Chavez, whatever they turn out to be, come over a decade after Chavez's legacy was tainted by revelations that he was hostile to undocumented farm workers and sought to exclude them from the labor movement,  referrng to them as "wetbacks."

Chavez and activist Dolores Huerta, with others, organized around grape pickers in the mid-1960s, leading to a boycott and national attention that, by 1970, saw the union securing a contract for the workers.

Chavez has streets and monuments dedicated to him in multiple California cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Jose. He died in 1993 at the age of 66.

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